With the concept of “fresh” penetrating grocery aisles, a wave of new and on-trend refrigerated and frozen foods are taking these sections by storm. Plant-based and dairy-free versions of everything from creamers to yogurts and sour cream are edging in on refrigerator space, while meats, cheese, yogurts and dips have repositioned themselves as healthier-for-you snacks.
Similarly, the freezer section is now plays host to plant-based versions of old and new soon-to-be favorites while also offering cleaner versions of traditional products with improved ingredient profiles.
“In the freezer it has been a renaissance period,” Tracy Miedema, vice president, innovation and brand development at Presence Marketing/Dynamic Presence told us earlier this year. “The freezer once stood for highly processed food with extremely long ingredient panels and a lot of chemical preservatives and unpronounceable words.”
But those days are gone, she says, as the category embraces fresh-to-frozen and upgraded contents to offer deeply nutritious products. Because the freezer offers this extraordinary shelf life, she adds, “You can have this fresh experience straight from the freezer.”
